


Shining, Shimmering, Splendid

by leiascully



Category: Captain America (2011), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: 1940s, Crossover, Every night is Time Lord Date Night, F/M, Married Couple, Moffatted again, Romance, Somebody had to write it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-12
Updated: 2012-09-12
Packaged: 2017-11-14 02:05:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/510156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leiascully/pseuds/leiascully
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clara has a date to the Modern Marvels of Tomorrow, so why shouldn't the Doctor?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shining, Shimmering, Splendid

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline: early in _Captain America_ , Series 7 in _Doctor Who_ (minor spoilers but sort of not really)  
>  A/N: Obviously I started writing this before Series 7 started to air and I didn't really want to change it in case we get Moffatted again, but I also didn't want to wait until we found out more about the new Companion. Written because Jenna-Louise Coleman is actually Bucky's date to the Modern Marvels exhibit in _Captain America_ , and also because I had a "wonder" square on my Cotton Candy Bingo card, so why not? Title from "A Whole New World" from Disney's _Aladdin_.  
>  Disclaimer: _Doctor Who_ and all related characters are the property of Russell T. Davies, Stephen Moffat, and BBC. No profit is made from this work and no infringement is intended.

One day in New York and Clara had already found herself a friend and a date. Honestly, the Doctor wasn't surprised, as vivacious as she was. She could nearly match the Pond girls for spontaneity. They'd come to New York - old New York, the 1940s - to see the Modern Marvels Exhibit and then she'd met another girl at a soda shop, who'd introduced her to a handsome soldier, and that had been that. She'd spent the rest of the day barely seeing all the history around her, and she hadn't given the Doctor a backwards glance as she'd gone through the gate on the arm of her date.

That was all right, really. Clara was a lovely girl, but it was good that she made a few friends. There was a lot of universe to see, and about time she saw it. The Doctor was certain that the soldier - James, his name was - would add a little historical dimension to her tour of New York. Besides, he had a date himself. He could explore the Exhibit with Clara tomorrow, when it was sunlit and educational. Howard Stark had kept it open even after the rest of the World's Fair had closed, and an excellent idea that was. The crowds still flooded to it, which no doubt brought Stark Industries plenty of business. Stark was still debuting new bits and bobs, changing this and that around, keeping the dream alive. At night, it was a futuristic wonderland. Well, futuristic by the standards of the era, anyway. Something about the immense capacity of humanity to dream in light and metal and sculpted plastic was utterly fascinating - they invented such glorious potential. River would absolutely have his head if he didn't share it with her. 

He had barely keyed in the coordinates of the Stormcage before River sauntered into the control room of the TARDIS, smoothing her hair down.

"Hello, sweetie!" she said. "I wouldn't open that door just now."

"I haven't done the wibbly lever yet," he pointed out.

"Well!" she said with a bright smile. "Everything should be all right then." She came toward him, undoing the straps of her vortex manipulator, and pulled him down for an extremely thorough kiss. The Doctor slid his arms around her waist and held her close. She smelled of ozone and slightly spicy perfume, and she was just the right shape against him, as always. Her mouth was warm and soft; he melted into the heat of her kiss. It took him a very long moment to gather up the willpower to lean back away from her.

"Get dressed," he told her.

"Oh, dear," she teased. "So close, and yet, so far. You'll never change, sweetie."

"We'll miss all the best bits of the Exhibit if you don't go and put something on," he said. "I'd take you as you are, but I know how you like to play dress-up."

"I like to dress down even more," she said. "Maybe you can help me with that later."

"Kit _on_ ," he said firmly. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, River."

She sighed and winked at him. "Sweetie, we're in a time machine. Aside from which I'm fairly certain this ran for more than one night. More than a year, in fact. I have read a bit of history, you know." But she took herself off and came back absolutely poured into a green dress that flattered every asset. Somehow the little jacket she'd put over it only emphasized her curves instead of disguising them. The Doctor swallowed hard as River posed, preening a bit. It was tempting to take her advice and have an evening in, but he'd waited much too long to take her on a proper date. 

"Shall we?" he said.

"Let's do," she told him, her eyes sparkling, and put her arm through his. It was a short stroll to Flushing Meadows Park. The air was cool but not chilly, lovely New York weather. The Doctor pulled River gently closer, the two of them sauntering along together. They were quiet thieves, stealing time from the universe for their own secret joys. The remnants of the World's Fair loomed before and around them as they walked, memories of the high hopes of humanity generally abandoned for now, no more than a handful of people wandering through. The Exhibit glowed in the center of it all, drawing the crowd onward and in the midst of it all, the Doctor walked with River at his side.

"I think I've got the most dapper escort in the city tonight," River said, stroking his arm with her fingers. "Who needs a man in uniform when you've got the Doctor?"

"Go on," the Doctor said, flushing. For all his centuries, River could still make him feel young and gangly, clumsy with longing. She made the universe new. She made old New York a place full of promise and grandeur, all swagger and sweetness. They stepped through the gates of the Modern Marvels Exhibit together and the past's idea of the future opened up before them like a cave of wonders. It was dazzling. It was delightful. It was utterly old-fashioned and ridiculously high-tech all at once, and it was one of the most charming things the Doctor had ever seen. Visions of what might be (or from their perspective, what might have been) shone in glass cases as what seemed like half of New York milled through it. Somewhere in the midst of it was Clara with her new friends, hopefully enjoying herself. The Doctor was certainly delighted with it all, playing the tourist, imagining a world full of Howard Stark's creations. The less destructive ones, of course, although the Doctor supposed that everything had its getting-the-kinks-worked out phase. He wouldn't have liked to see the early stages of TARDIS engineering, after all.

"This is better than a museum," River said, pleasure warming her voice. She leaned closer to a display of a sort of exoskeleton, an automated suit for a super soldier or, potentially, some sort of super hero. The thousand lights of the Exhibit gleamed in the hollow of her throat and the curls of her hair and touched the fabric of her dress with gold. The Doctor soaked up her presence. Clara was lovely, but she wasn't Ponds; River was Ponds plus, his partner more than his companion, strong and witty by his side, making up for the things he lacked. There was nobody like River anywhere, any time ever. 

That was the real wonder of it all: he'd met his match. He'd thought that was more of a fantasy than anything in this exhibit, but miracle of miracles, here she was, just as much potential to be a war machine as the suit she was admiring, but fighting against the dark, using her strength for a better cause. Howard Stark's creations could wreak havoc or they could revolutionize life on this planet; River generally attempted both at once and the Doctor loved every minute of it, even when she drove him to distraction. Especially then, really. She always found such interesting ways to alleviate his frustration.

River wandered on, casing the crowd by habit as she went from exhibit to exhibit. The Doctor watched her, heedless now of the exhibits. Even the roars of the crowd as Stark spoke from the main stage couldn't distract him. It was River, wayward, maddening, lovable River, whom no mere mortal could ever imagine in all her glorious flawed grandeur. River was the modern marvel. River was the future. The Doctor's hearts thudded in his chest as the sight of her, glowing like two moons in his chest, as if love could light a path between them steady enough to navigate the universe, leading them always back to each other. He winced for a moment, but for now she was there, solid and real when he slipped an arm around her waist.

"What is it, sweetie?" she asked, reading him like a book the way she always did.

"Just admiring the view, dear," he said, smiling down into her face. She beamed back at him. 

"Shall we go dancing later?" she asked.

"I'd like that very much," he told her. "Although the last time, Amy did tell me that I looked like a drunken giraffe."

"I can sort that out," River said confidently, leaning into him.

"I've no doubt," he said, sincerity in every word. She kissed him quickly but warmly and straightened his bow tie. 

"Come along, then," she said, taking his hand and leading him on. "I heard they're going to do one last demonstration for the evening. We wouldn't want to miss it."

"Not a single moment," he said softly, following along.


End file.
